Chapter 24: Roses
Chapter 25: Warlord's Armory
Last Updated: 7/12/99
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As Torana disappears in the distance, people bearing weapons come out from the shadows. A group of men who look more like merchants than warriors' walks through the group checking bodies.
"Wounded here! Take them into the temple! This battle is over."
A cheer rises up from the crowd. There are glad cries of people shouting things like, "Freedom from fear!" and "The oppressors are gone!"
A couple of women bearing sheets come over and place them over the body of the woman known as Asura. And men fashion stretchers to carry to place the wounded. Soon each of them is lifted up and taken into the white building inside the plaza they so recently left.
Once inside the cool building, the nose is overpowered with the scent of roses that permeates the area. And a young attractive young woman who seems relatively unsure of herself gestures toward the pallets where the wounded are placed.
Within a few minutes the large room is filled with wounded from all over the city. Men and women from all stations of life are either wounded or helping the wounded be brought in.
One merchant says, "We had the soldiers on the run, but the Marshall played his final cursed card and turned everyone into mindless ones who followed his every command. If it weren't for the return of Toran with that magic staff we would have been lost."
Another woman, after dropping off a wounded boy remarks, "I always thought Toran was a senile old candle maker full of wild dreams. I still think he is senile, but maybe some of those dreams aren't so wild." The group chuckles quietly before being ushered out by the nervous young woman.
The young woman leaves and comes back with two others in white robes, each carrying an armful of roses. Behind them four burly men come. As the room quickly fills up, she takes one of the roses in begins a prayer over the body of a man who is missing a leg and suffering from a serious cut wound to the chest. The man shutters and her voice breaks.
She pauses and begins again, "Goddess of Peace and Tranquility, Guardian of Life in all forms. On behalf of this poor soul I beseech your divine greatness. To protect your followers, he has done that which is repugnant to him and been punished for it. I pray thee let weave the rays of the sun around this poor being and heal him so that he may know that the path of peace and harmony is the one true way."
As she speaks a single petal of the rose drops from the main flower and drifts idly down to land on the body of the injured man. The petal enlarges to cover the man obscuring him from view. A moment later the petal seems to be absorbed into the man leaving him whole and uninjured. A smile on his face, the man falls into a deep slumber. The woman smiles and moves on to the next injured person, while one of the burly men picks up the body and carries it out of the room.
In time she gets around to everyone and each feels the petal touch their bodies and the aromatic scent of the rose engulf them and they feel themselves falling deep into the darkness.
Their fall comes to a gentle end as each finds himself in a large field with roses planted here and there. The wind rustles through the hair and peace is everywhere. One by one they sit up and stare at the horizon and all around and just enjoy the view.
***************
Sitting in peace looking around a field of roses, each almost wonders whether they're dead or in a dream.
The answer comes suddenly as noises appear from all around and the scene disappears in a blast of light and sound that seems louder than thunder from the sky.
Awakening to the sound of someone snoring very loudly. She looks around to find herself with a dozen others on the floor of a good-sized room. Another man wakes with a start only to lean over and smack the snoring sleeper in the head, "Wake up, blast you and take that outside!" This outburst in turn wakes up still more people and soon the room is filled with cries of "Keep it down!" "Where am I" "Am I dead yet" "Yes, this is your own personal damnation, Now shut up!"
The commotion attracts someone from outside and the door opens and bright morning light shafts through the doorway blinding all.
A deep voice says, "Alright sleepy heads, the fight is over! Get out here and join the party." One by one he helps the people get up and pushes them through the doorway. It is then that she realizes that all of her armor and equipment is gone and she is dressed in bleached white breeches and shirt.
As the group is walked outside several people wait outside nervously. Every now and then a woman runs up to claim her husband or children greet their mother now returned. But one man, a very large burly man with short black hair but a friendly expression looks around picking people for a different reason. As he gestures for her to come to him, she realize the group he has chosen were comrade-in-arms, then briefly her enemies. After Asura joins them, he begins counting. "Yes I think that is it, the others were too far gone to save them. My name is Coros. Toran said to make sure you get to his shop when you woke, so I'm here to escort you." As Aladfar mentions the missing clothing, Coros says, "There is not much I can do there, most of you your clothing was burned and otherwise ruined beyond hope. The remains of your weapons have gone to the forges to be made anew. Come this way. When we began the revolt yesterday, no one expected that Toran's group had survived. He had tried many times before, but when he didn't return, we assumed he was lost for good. If it weren't for him, we would have lost everything. We had defeated the Outsiders' forces, but the Marshall himself had some kind of magic that made everyone follow his orders. Nothing we had could stand against it, until Toran came with that crazy staff of his. Lighting flew from that staff hitting everyone and we thought he had killed them all, but they seem unharmed today. Then the Marshall tried to take the staff and Toran gave it to him, but the staff caused his magic uniform to explode nearly killing him. Rather than be captured he took his own life and now the nightmare is over. We have sent word to other towns, and hopefully no one else suffers from the yoke of these Outsiders."
After several minutes of walking they find themselves in front of a dirty rundown shack that looks it would collapse if Aladfar sneezes on it. Hanging from a wall, is a dirty sign that says, "Chandler". Coros says, "Here is Toran's place. Personally I don't know why you risked your neck for us. I mean it's not like Toran could ever pay you for your services, but I'm glad you did." With that he turns and walks off into the distance.
Before the group enters, the young elvin woman known as Asura turns to the rest of the group and apologizes for attacking them.
A sound from inside the shack catches everyone's attention and a man walks out to greet the group. Strapped to his back is a war hammer that is so big that it looks like Aladfar would have trouble carrying it. "You must be the group with Torana."
"Pendran, are you still carrying that crazy hammer around with you!" Aladfar shouts.
Staring up at the ogre Pendran gives a cocky smile and says, "Still am! And I'm gonna master it so that when a certain crazy orc comes back after me to try and take it back, he won't find me easy pickings. Come on in, there are a few others you might recognize in here."
They enter in the rickety structure to find a cramped room filled with candle making equipment. Pendran moves toward the rear moving between two large vats of wax. And they enter a back room and are surprised by the sudden change of scenery. No longer are they in a rickety shack, but they stand in a very large circular room. Books of all sizes and color fill massive bookshelves that are nearly three stories tall. To one side is a large picture window that looks out above a forest. Dominating one wall is a large fireplace in front of which, placed in a U-shape are several large comfortable couches. Pendran walks confidently to the couches and sits down. Already waiting for them is a recently shaved human man with his longer than shoulder length hair tied up in a ponytail. Another is a fresh-faced young looking elf with silver armbands in a strange design. The third whom Pendran sits next to is a mean looking dark haired human with a large sword placed across his lap.
Two other figures are standing off to one side. Elves by race, but in the light they look darker than any elves they've ever seen. Both greet the group with a slight inclination of the head. "So good of you to join us Ladies and Gentleman", says a familiar voice. Moving out of the shadows of one of the bookcases, Torana smiles and gestures over to the couches, "Come rest for a moment. This valley owes you a debt of gratitude that I can only in part repay. I heard that you had lost all of your weapons and armor in that last fight. I can help you only slightly in that respect. First of all, the monetary reward which I mentioned. He nods to the two elves, one of which opens a large sack and proceeds to pull out much smaller bags. "Each bag contains 100 GP and a pair of gems each worth around 10-20 GP each. In addition to your reward, the Warlord has allowed that you should choose one item from his rather vast armory. I should think that unless you plan on buying a small village you should be well set for quite some time. Now come let us relax and have some breakfast." The second elf exits a door and comes back a few moments later leading a train of floating trays filled to the brim with fruits, vegetables, steamed meat, bread and cheese.
The birds are singing, everyone feels refreshed and more than one realizes it's going to be a great day.
***************
TopGwydeon asks about the staff that Torana had. To which he replies, "Oh that, that was just a loaner which Assyir allowed me to use to stop the forces that threaten our fragile peace. After its task was done, he took it back."
Magnus asks about the invaders and what lies outside the valley, Torana smiles and says, "A whole new world lies out there, but it is not the least bit friendly to anyone. You got a small taste of what it's like out there when they were in here. As you probably have guessed those soldiers were not from anywhere inside the valley. As far as I know they follow some mythical creature who's only aim is to forment chaos and keep the races from unifying and creating peaceful nations. This valley is the opposite of everything they stand for. It's a wonder they didn't try this before, but mark my words. They will probably be back. The outside world doesn't breed their men too smart, too greedy, yes, too smart, no. Their main war is with the Universal Harmony Church who promotes peace and order. Don't ask me how I know this because that is a long story and I kinda of want to eat sometime this century." He grins.
Between bites Magnus turns to a young lady he calls Nushaba and asks about her being and ogre and what kind of magic she used. At this Aladfar turns and looks all around confusedly, before his eye fix on the only young lady in the room not wearing white. "Nushaba...'the arrow' are you any good at archery?"
She replies with a blank face, "Aladfar...'the hand that touches the harp'… Probably better than you play the harp." After a moment she smiles.
Aladfar says, "Don't be so sure, if I could find one my size...."
Nushaba turns to Magnus and says, "I suppose at first it should have been obvious I was an ogre, but you never mentioned it before so I figured perhaps you didn't think about that possibility. We used fairly simple shrinking magic to do so. The magic is permanent until a reverse spell is used."
Torana interrupts, "Simple for ogre's, I've been learning that this means it's damned hard for the rest of us. It seems the ogre's aren't nearly as dumb as they've lead everyone to believe."
Conversation eventually turns to the upcoming war. Torana says, "We can't depend on outside help that's for sure. Any help we bring would just as likely try and take over. There is a saying outside the valley, 'Evil hides behind a friendly face.' I think we must find a way to avert the war, because if it comes down to battle, even your combined forces will lose in the end. The small bits of orc learning I have been able to gleam from them also shows that their adaptations of magic are beyond even you're greatest mages, which is considerable."
Aladfar and the others talk about old times and someone asks about their old comrades. Pendran says, "The only one we could find was Burk and he is still at his fathers inn in Meadows End." The fresh faced elf mentions that he last saw Tasha, the speaker, Mordred, Hunter, and Zraxin just after entering town. And nearly everyone knows about Albian and his storytelling. Aladfar introduces his old friends to his new comrades. The fresh-faced elf is known as Gwydeon. The mage with the long hair in a pony tale is known as Magnus Kane, Torana's apprentice. The man with the large hammer is Pendran and his partner is called Dayal.
As the groups talk and enjoy the food and drink. Torana stands up and walks over to the window and stares out. A melancholy smile plays over his lips. As the rays of the sun slant across the room a small bird alights on the windowsill and chirps brightly. His smile brightens and he rejoins the party saying, "Anyone want to see my famous glass ladder trick." At this Magnus gives a shudder.
As the day moves on into early evening, Torana gets up from the table and walks over to one of the massive bookshelves. Bending down, he pulls a scroll out from between two books. He returns to the table and begins to unroll it. Empty dishes are moved to make room for parchment, which turns out to be a map. "Tomorrow, you will go here", he points out a position in the woods just to the north of the town. There is nothing on the map that shows anything significant at that spot. It is here that you will receive the second half of your payment. Simply tell the guard who you are, they will be expecting you and will know what to do. The route is safe and few orcs dare to mess with this place.
After studying the map to get their bearings, each fixing the exact location in their minds, Torana rolls up the map and returns it to its exact spot. As night falls Torana yawns ands says, "It has been a long day for me and I expect my apprentice has fallen behind on his studies. I didn't build this place for visitors, so please excuse me if the accommodations are a little rough. Magnus please show our guests to where they will be spending the night. Thank you again one and all perhaps we shall do this again someday." With that his form blurs and he turns to mist and floats upward into a crack in the ceiling disappearing from view.
Magnus stands up and leads the group through to another room where they find the walls covered with tapestries depicting strange scenes of elves fighting creatures none of them can name or even guess at. The floor is covered with a very thick white carpet that it so soft it feels like walking on the clouds. Except for the carpet and the tapestries the circular room is bare.
The two elves appear shortly after Magnus leaves, passing out pillows to everyone, giving Aladfar two to make up for the lack in size. As they sit down they find it hard to actually stay awake, the carpet is so comfortable that no one can't resist lying down and closing their eyes
.
.
.
They wake up in the morning to find another feast awaiting them for breakfast. Aladfar mentions that he would very much like to get something to replace his lost staff and everyone pretty much agrees to set out early for the indicated spot.
Leaving the way they came they find themselves back outside the dilapidated chandler shop in town. Taking a northern track the group manages to wind its way up to the northern gates of the city, where the victory celebration still is going strong
After traveling through the woods for a couple of hours and getting lost twice they finally approach the place believed to be the spot on the map. Suddenly the forest opens in front of them showing a short tower-like structure. Though only two stories tall it looks to be only one room around in size. Above the large doorway is a strange design that seems to change from moment to moment.
After scouting the perimeter the group cautiously enters the structure....only to find themselves in a large circular room.
The room is about thirty to forty feet in diameter with the roof shrouded in blackness. The only feature in the room is a large circle in the center of the room. As they near the circle a creature appears in it.
The creature is nearly 20" in height like looking like a bull-man, but the eyes hint at some intelligence. The bull-man carries a large staff slightly taller than it is and at the top of the staff is a double axe blade a good three feet in length in its left hand.
Without its lips moving a deep voice reverberates throughout the room, "Who are you and what do you seek in this place?"
With everyone noticeably cautious in the group Silverleaf speaks up, "Torana sent us here, we are hear to collect our reward."
The creature is silent for a moment its eyes narrow for a moment then it raises its right hand and a scroll unrolls from its hands reaching nearly to the floor. "Names!" The voice reverberates.
Each person quickly gives their names, when the last person is done. The creature nods and the scroll rolls itself back up. The creature tilts its staff and the blades retract into the staff and the staff shrinks until it disappears. "Follow me" As the creature turns and trods into a blackness that has appeared behind it.
After a moment's hesitation as the group looks around at each other finally deciding nothing they follow the creature. The darkness engulfs them only momentarily before they enter the light. Before them stands a an elf nearly 6 ft in height wearing a purple robe with blue tinge around the arms and legs. In the subdued light the elf looks like he has a deep tan. "Welcome to the Warlord's Weapons Armory. We have been expecting you. We have pulled a limited selection here for you to choose from. I am Jhuol your guide, if you have any questions just ask me." He gestures toward the large room ahead, lit by glowing fungus on the cold stone walls the lighted room holds dozens of weapons.
Jhuol gestures to a rack of plain looking swords nearby and says, "All the weapons here have been imbued with some form of magical energy and have been gathered from various places and times. These plain looking swords have simple magic cast upon them. The effects run from allowing the wielder to strike faster or more accurately to cutting through tough stone. They have been rated by classes."
The labels on the racks holding the swords reading (the number after indicating the number of weapons):